DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GA.
CHAPTER 28: Hotaru's second sign, a bow
"Here!" Aoi stated happily as she handed Natsume the kit.
"Now why don't you go and wear your dress or choose your shoes or whatever while I do this thing?" Natsume said while Aoi shook her head. "No way. I'm not leaving until I see whatever thingy you're gonna do with Nobol. I wanna make sure that he's in good hands."
"He IS in good hands." Natsume replied with a glare while Aoi shook her head again. "I. Won't. Leave." She declared while Natsume sighed in defeat. He then removed the ribbon on Nobol's neck and then the gray shirt afterwards. And then Natsume started sewing while Aoi started in awe.
Natsume fixed everything that needed to be fixed like the lose threads that caused holes on Nobol's left ear and his right paw. "Yey! Nobol's in top shape again! Arigatou, Natsume-nii!" Aoi cheered as she placed Nobol's shirt back.
"Oi, don't forget the ribbon." Natsume stated as he took the ribbon and Nobol as well. He then tied the ribbon around its neck, and after a while, he fell into a trance. "Natsume-nii? Are you alright?" Aoi asked him as she waved her hand in front of his face but she got no reaction from him.
FLASHBACK:
A raven haired kid is now staring at his younger sister who was sleeping on her cradle. "Natsume, my dear, don't be too noisy. You might wake your little sister up." A woman whispered.
"Mom, why does she gets Nobol away fwon me evwy time?" A young Natsume asked.
"Honey, Aoi's just borrowing Snowball for a while. She's not getting it from you. You're her onii-chan. You should be patient when it comes to times like that. You should learn how to share your things."
"I am shawing my things wit hew. But she gets Nobol even in times that I'm pwaying with him."
Kaoru then bent down to face the eye level of her son. "Honey, you two are siblings. You have to help and protect each other. And whatever makes the other happy, you should let that happen. If Aoi-chan is happy while she plays with your teddy, then just let her play with it. You're the big brother so you should know the right things to do. Now tell me my son, do you want to make your sister happy?" She asked while little Natsume nodded.
"Then what are you going to do to make your little sister happy?" She asked again.
"Let hew pway with Nobol too. Okaa-san, I'm a big bwothew now wight?" Natsume asked while Kaoru nodded. "Then I give my Nobol to hew. I have othew toys to pway with like my wobot. If I give Nobol to Aoi-chan, would she be happy?"
Kaoru nodded. "But are you sure that you would give your teddy to her, my little prince? I told you that you two can share. When Aoi-chan gets older, I would buy her a teddy too. By then you wouldn't have to argue."
"I wanna give Nobol to hew mom. I know that she would take cawe of Nobol too so I won't have to wowied about him."
"That's my prince." Kaoru said as she hugged her son. "I'm sure that you'll be a perfect big brother to our little princess. Fire Kingdom will definitely be in good hands in the future."
Natsume then removed the bow from the attire that he was wearing. "Mom, can I put this bow on Nobol's neck? So that Aoi would know that it was my gift fow hew."
"Sure thing, honey." Kaoru said as she assisted her son in tying the bow around the teddy's neck.
END OF FLASHBACK
And with that flashback, Natsume finally remembered who he really was. His memories about his family have also returned. "Natsume-nii? Are you alright?" Aoi asked again while Natsume was finally zapped back to reality.
"I remember." Natsume mumbled. "Remember what? Remember that you spaced out right in front of me?" Aoi asked as she folded her arms over her chest. "What happened to you anyway?"
"Aoi-chan… Nobol… Prince… Princess… Fire Kingdom… Mom… I finally remember."
"What are you talking about Natsume-nii?" Aoi asked confusedly.
"Oi, you're my sister, right?" Natsume stated seriously as he eyed the gal in front of her. "You're Aoi, the princess of the Fire Kingdom? And our mother is Kaoru?" He asked while Aoi smiled.
"You finally remember!" Aoi cheered and then hugged her brother. "Now can I call you onii-chan without you getting angry at me?"
"Hn."
"We should tell everyone about this. It's great news!" Aoi declared. "Hn. Go ahead. But don't you tell the elder ones yet. Let them believe that I'm still the commoner that they knew of before."
"But why?" the red eyed lass whined as she pouted.
"I still have my plans of stopping the wedding of Polka and the shadow freak." Natsume uttered determinedly. "Now, now onii-chan. Watch your words. Informal words like those are not allowed for us royals." Aoi reminded.
"Oi you should know that we are I'm not supposed to be known as a royal here by the elders. And besides, I'm a commoner in this place, remember?" Natsume replied while Aoi sighed in defeat. "Now go and get dressed. Tonight is your night, after all."
"Hai!" She stated as she prepared herself for the ball while Natsume headed to his room and then did the same. "So I'm really the Hyuuga Prince huh? So that little girl wasn't kidding. But I still haven't regained everything from my memory. All I know is about my family and then about Ruka. What the heck happened in the four years of my life in the Fire Kingdom?" He thought as he went down a flight of stairs.
"But now that I'm a royal, I can now be together with Polka without much hassle. I have heard from Imai and the others some days ago that they were talking about the original fiancé of Polka Dots. And it was me but arrangements changed because of the storm accident on my birthday party. Tch. Polka was really meant for me. You better watch out you shadow freak. I'll be taking Polka away from you no matter what the costs may be."
"Kings and queens, princes and princesses, my lords and my ladies, good evening to you all." King Izumi stated as he greeted everyone who attended that night's event. "As you have all known, at first, my daughter, Princess Mikan, was already engaged to Prince Tsubasa Andou. And now, I am here right in front of you once again to proudly announce that my son, Prince Youichi Sakura, is now also engaged to a lovely young lady." He declared as Youichi was standing right in front of him.
"She's a very talented and pretty girl. And I presume that all of you may have known her already. She came from a famous and skillful family in the land across our Kingdom. And now, may I present to you, Princess Aoi Hyuuga from the Fire Kingdom." Queen Yuka continued as Aoi came into the picture.
"Sugoi! Aoi-chan looks even prettier tonight!" Mikan beamed while Hotaru simply nodded in approval. "Too bad I was not the one who helped her with her hairdo and all that stuff. We could have had fun together while preparing ourselves for the ball."
"Tch. As expected from a little girl. All you ever think of is fun and games."
"Hey! Where did you come from?" the brunette asked.
"Technically, he came through the door." Ruka butted in. "Good evening, Natsume. What brings you here? Mikan told us that you don't like occasions like this."
"Tch. Knowing that my sister would be swoon over by loads of people tonight, I definitely should be here to keep unnecessary people away from her."
"Yeah, what are you doing here anyway?" Mikan asked. "I was enjoying my night just by looking at Aoi-chan and you step into the picture ruining everything." She mumbled.
"Hello everyone! What are you talking about?" Aoi greeted. "Now where did you come from too?" Mikan asked again. "Seriously, how come people are always popping out suddenly?"
"You were so busy talking to fire boy to the point that you didn't notice that your father was already done with his speech." Hotaru blurted out. "She's right, Mikan-nee. We can do whatever we want by now and simply enjoy the ball." Youichi said.
"Oh! And speaking of enjoy the night," Aoi started as she looked around the area, "I have some good news for all of you." She continued in a whisper. "But if it's good news, why are you whispering?" Ruka asked.
"Because it's only for us to know and no one else." Aoi said in a low tone, catching the curiosity of everyone in the group. "Can we find someplace where it's private so we can talk about it openly?"
And with that, all of them went to the room of the brunette. "So what is it?" Youichi asked the moment that the room of the brunette was locked. "First of all, you guys have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this. And when I say anyone, I mean even the elders including your parents." Aoi stated while everyone else nodded except for Natsume.
"I already found my brother." Aoi uttered while Ruka, Hotaru, Youichi and Mikan were just giving her questionable looks. "Or should I say, he was finally able to find himself." She continued. While the others were still processing the information that the raven haired girl said, Hotaru then shifted her gaze to the flame caster.
"Spill it." She simply said as she stared at Natsume. "Oi, could you just tell them directly?" Natsume told his sister. "I don't like that look that Imai is giving me."
"Well, Natsume-nii finally remembered some of his memories." Aoi simply stated.
"Finally." Hotaru mumbled as she looked at her best friend who still had a confused look on her face. "So, you're a prince?" Mikan asked quietly.
"No, he's just a mere commoner." Hotaru sarcastically replied. "Get a grip, Mikan. He's the long lost prince of the Fire Kingdom. He's really the brother of Aoi."
"But how were you able to get your memories back?" Mikan asked again. "That's what I have been thinking about too, Natsume. How did you regain them?" Ruka asked.
Natsume simply shrugged. "The first thing I know was that I space out and then the next think I know, I remember things from my past." He replied. "Cool! Now we just have to make you space out all the time so that you can have all of your memories back!" Youichi beamed.
BAKA BAKA BAKA!
"Hey! What was that for?" Youichi asked while he was helped by Aoi to stand back up. "Baka. For sure that when he spaces out, there are some factors that make him remember. Mere spacing out doesn't count." Hotaru stated. "So what kind of spacing our does he need for him to get all of his memories back?" Youichi asked as everyone stared at Natsume.
"Tch. What are all of you looking at? How on earth should I know? My memories come back at unlikely times. I can't force them to come back to me all at once."
"So wat do you remember by now, Natsume-nii?" Aoi asked. "Things about our family and then about Ruka. And that's about everything. I can't remember anything else about my life in the Fire Kingdom."
"Ruka and his family? Maybe those signs are really for real. Maybe the second sign already happened without me knowing it and it has something to do with Aoi. So all I have to do is wait for the last sign. A high fever huh? What the heck does Natsume has to do with this one?" Hotaru thought to herself.
